Welcome to the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music

Latest News

• Nicholas Currie: Don’t look in the dark or something will look back at ya: Paintings by a ghost fella

  19 December 2024

  In Glossary of a Haunting, Eve Tuck and C. Ree describe the structure of settler colonialism as “an ongoing horror made invisible by its persistence.”

  • Visual Art

  View article

• 'Young artists should have a right to invent the world, rather than just receive it': Meet Honours coordinator Dane Mitchell

  18 December 2024

  Dane Mitchell is a multi-award-winning artist and Head of Honours at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). He answered some questions for us about his own practice and the enriching possibilities that arise through pursuing an Honours year in Visual Art.

  • Visual Art

  View article

• 'Research for me starts with the body': Meet Honours (Visual Art) graduate Nicole Goode

  18 December 2024

  Nicole Goode and I are at the 2024 Grad Show, sitting on the grind rail she had made in the metal workshop, as part of her final Honours work.

  • Visual Art

  View article

• University of Melbourne confers Honorary Doctorate on music education leader Professor André de Quadros

  17 December 2024

  The University of Melbourne has conferred an honorary doctorate on Professor André de Quadros, a childhood refugee and now senior international leader in music education, conducting, ethnomusicology and human rights activism.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

  View article

• Melbourne Conservatorium of Music students present two versions of the opera Hänsel und Gretel

  29 November 2024

  Two versions of Engelbert Humperdinck’s 1893 opera Hänsel und Gretel will be performed by Melbourne Conservatorium of Music students in December — one for children and a darker version for adults.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

  View article

• ‘Remember who you are and where you come from’: Meet VCA graduating artist Nicholas Currie

  26 November 2024

  Meet Nicholas Currie, a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) student in the Painting department. Nicholas’ work is deeply reflective of the experiences of his community around him.

  • Visual Art

  View article

• ‘Everyday objects are given new meaning’: Meet VCA graduating artist Rachel Rovira

  25 November 2024

  Rachel Rovira is a graduating Bachelor of Fine Arts student at the VCA. Rachel’s work uncovers the harm of extractivism through her own experiences undertaking fieldwork.

  • Visual Art

  View article

• ‘It’s in unexpected places that you will find exactly what you’re looking for’: Meet VCA graduating artist Tess Rogers

  25 November 2024

  Bachelor of Fine Arts student Tess Rogers explores the way fabric can evoke lost emotions and memories in her latest photography series, inspecting the boundaries of social reproduction and femininity. We spoke to Tess ahead of the 2024 VCA Art Grad Show.

  • Visual Art

  View article

• ‘There is an immense sense of fulfilment that comes as a result of resonating with art’: Meet VCA graduating artist Baillie Jackson

  25 November 2024

  For graduating Bachelor of Fine Arts student Baillie Jackson, identity sits at the forefront of their photography practice. We spoke to Baillie ahead of the 2024 VCA Art Grad Show.

  • Visual Art

  View article

• ‘Artists exist to speak the truth’: Meet VCA graduating artist Ziyi Wei

  25 November 2024

  Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) student Ziyi Wei uses jewellery and ornamentation to explore themes of desire, gendered bodies, and the erosion of ethnic culture in modern society. We spoke with Ziyi before she unveiled her latest work at the 2024 VCA Art Grad Show.

  • Visual Art

  View article

• Emerging visual artists debut work at 2024 VCA Grad Show

  25 November 2024

  The VCA Art Grad Show returns this week with an extraordinary display of new work by graduating students at the University of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts (VCA).

  • Victorian College of the Arts

  View article

• VCA graduates showcase short films in partnership with MIFF

  31 October 2024

  The next generation of Australian filmmakers will showcase their graduating works from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) from 26 November to 10 December.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

  View article

• A decade after the US version ended, Australia remakes The Office. It’s not new, but it’s funny

  21 October 2024

  Just over ten years after the United States version of the British series ended, Australia has decided to make its own version. It follows franchises in Canada, Greece, India, Sweden and Poland, to name a few.

  • News

  View article

• University of Melbourne to host Collaborate. Innovate. Create. forum

  21 October 2024

  The University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and Victorian College of the Arts) will host the inaugural Collaborate. Innovate. Create. forum on Thursday 24 October.

  • News

  View article

• Innovative music program for children with disabilities seeks new cohort for 2025

  11 October 2024

  A University of Melbourne research program run in conjunction with Melbourne Youth Orchestras (MYO), the Adaptive Music Bridging Program, is currently seeking a new cohort of young musicians to join its program in 2025.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

  View article

• New exhibition Chronomingle explores the interplay of time, culture and storytelling

  10 October 2024

  The University of Melbourne’s Project8 Gallery has launched a new exhibition exploring the nature of storytelling across different historical and cultural contexts.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

  View article

• Sydney Dance Company’s momenta – a breathtaking study in perpetual motion

  09 October 2024

  Artistic director Rafael Bonachela’s latest work for the Sydney Dance Company, momenta, had its Melbourne premiere on 8 October at the Playhouse Theatre in the Arts Centre.

  • Dance

  View article

• What the Paiwanese nose flute tells us about ‘intangible culture’

  07 October 2024

  Archives are strange things. On one hand, they are repositories of the past and the people that came before us. On the other, they are partial snapshots that do not adequately capture diverse cultural practices. The Paiwan worldview is a particularly salient example.

  • News

  View article

• Unique performance co-created by VCA Theatre students to feature at Alter State festival

  01 October 2024

  An innovative durational performance event created by Joshua Pether in collaboration with Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre) students from the Victorian College of the Arts at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music will feature as part of disability-led arts initiative Alter State 2024.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

  View article

• David Balfour appointed Head of Film and Television

  24 September 2024

  David Balfour has been appointed as the new Head of Film and Television at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) within the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Music.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

  View article

• University of Melbourne and Australian Chamber Orchestra partnership renewal spotlights the value of music and education at every level

  24 September 2024

  University of Melbourne students and staff, and Victorian primary school students, will be among the key beneficiaries of a seven-year extension to the University’s exclusive partnership with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO). The two-part partnership renewal will launch in 2025 — t...

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

  View article

• In Conversation with the Creators of 'Paper City'

  17 September 2024

  Paper City follows the survivors of a US air attack on eastern Tokyo. Now in their twilight years, the survivors battle for recognition and reparations under a government reluctant to acknowledge them. Currently having its world premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), we spoke ...

  • News

  View article

• Oscar: the tragedy and beauty of Wilde’s life, and an historic moment on the ballet stage

  16 September 2024

  Christopher Wheeldon and The Australian Ballet’s Oscar, which had its world premiere in Melbourne on September 13, is based on the story of Oscar Wilde: the writer, the man, the protester.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

  View article

• Creative industries forum in Delhi strengthens cross-cultural collaboration

  16 September 2024

  The India and Australia Creative Connections Forum, held recently in Delhi, was an important milestone celebrating cross-cultural collaboration and innovation within the creative sectors of both countries. The event brought together creative minds from across a range of art disciplines to explore ne...

  • International

  View article

• Documentary co-produced by VCA lecturers premieres at Melbourne International Film Festival

  06 August 2024

  A documentary feature film co-produced by Senior Lecturers in Film and Television at the Victorian College of the Arts, Dr Donna Lyon and Shannon Owen, will premiere at the 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF).

  • Victorian College of the Arts

  View article

• Magnificent and humbling: Paris opening ceremony was a tribute to witnessing superhuman feats of the extraordinary

  29 July 2024

  • Victorian College of the Arts

  View article

• New exhibition Crepusculum explores and questions established notions of ‘light’ and ‘dark’

  25 July 2024

  The University of Melbourne’s Project8 Gallery will next week launch a new exhibition exploring the interplay of ‘light’ and ‘dark’, challenging established distinctions that have historically shaped our perceptions of these notions.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

  View article

• Melbourne Conservatorium of Music appoints new Wind Symphony conductor

  24 July 2024

  The Melbourne Conservatorium of Music is delighted to announce Dr Jaclyn Hartenberger’s appointment as Associate Professor of Wind Conducting.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

  View article

• Music Psychology student wins University’s Visualise Your Thesis competition

  22 July 2024

  Music Psychology PhD student Sabrina McKenzie has recently won the University of Melbourne’s Visualise Your Thesis competition.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

  View article

• 'I didn’t know theatre for young people could be so radical and innovative': Meet VCA graduate Sophia Derkenne

  09 July 2024

  Meet Sophia Derkenne: an artist, and graduate of the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre) program at the VCA. Hear from Sophia as they share insights on how their VCA training shaped their artistic practice, valuable lessons learned at the VCA, and how the experience bestowed a real sense of community an...

  • Victorian College of the Arts

  View article

• Destination Opera: Opera Studies students and alumni take to stages around the world

  01 July 2024

  In 2024 current students and graduates of Opera Studies from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music are being noticed, not only within the state, but internationally, writes Professor Jane Davidson.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

  View article

• University of Melbourne to host inaugural Music Theatre Futures conference

  20 June 2024

  The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Music is proud to host the inaugural Music Theatre Futures conference next month — the first in-person conference for music theatre in Australia.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

  View article